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New Jersey

On July 3, while visiting in the Philadelphia area, I was invited to join the staff of Gloucester City Sail on the North Wind schooner as a photographer for the day. The nonprofit provides students from local summer programs the opportunity to learn about the waterfronts of Camden, New Jersey, and Philadelphia while on board the schooner, sailing on the Delaware River. They learn about the water quality, the history, and the industries that run along the river, which includes a major port. The 57-foot schooner they use as a classroom was built in 1995 and features five sails.

Sitting at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into Upper New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, the New York-New Jersey Harbor is located at the center of commerce. The harbor is a multi-billion dollar port, an industrial complex, and a transportation hub — but the natural resources both in and around the harbor are often overlooked.

On a drizzly November day, I met Simeon Hahn at Phoenix Park in Camden, New Jersey to talk about his work. As a Philadelphia native, I wanted to learn more about the work NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration does in the area. It was also an opportunity for me to get to know Simeon, an environmental scientist and regional resource coordinator with OR&R.

Simeon grew up in the natural beauty of the Shenandoah Valley in Waynesboro, Virginia. His parents came from the Black Forest area in Germany, and later bought a cabin and land adjacent to the George Washington National Forest in Virginia.

Fish will once again be able to swim unencumbered in New Jersey’s Millstone River as removal of the Weston Mill Dam begins.

The project is part of the settlement negotiated to compensate for potential injuries to fish and other in-river trust resources from long-term hazardous substance releases related to the nearby American Cyanamid Superfund Site in Bridgewater, New Jersey. The site was used for manufacturing of chemicals, dyes, and pharmaceuticals and for coal tar distillation from the early 1900s until 1999.

This week, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration is looking at the impacts of pollutants on wildlife and endangered species. We’ll explore tools we’ve developed to map sensitive species and habitats, how marine debris endangers marine life, how restoring toxic waste sites improves the health of wildlife, and the creation of a mobile wildlife hospital.

Dozens of companies share responsibility for the industrial pollution on New Jersey’s Passaic River, and several Superfund sites dot the lower portion of the river. But one of the perhaps best-known of these companies (and Superfund sites) is Diamond Alkali.

Update: Oct, 20, 2016—Restoration for the Raritan River moved one step closer with the U.S. Department of Justice’s announcement of a settlement for the American Cyanamid Superfund Site. Details can be found here.

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